{"id":{"repo_id":"cape-town","oai_identifier":"oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/5620"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/cape-town/oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/5620","repository":{"repo_id":"cape-town","name":"University of Cape Town","base_url":"https://open.uct.ac.za/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Dysfunctional market or insufficient creditworthiness? : an exploration of financial constraint experienced by small, medium and micro enterprises in South Africa","abstract":"The existence and prevalence of financial constraints has been extensively discussed in the international economic literature, and is implicit in debates on the performance and needs of South Africa’s Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs). However, there is little solid research measuring financial constraints among South African SMMEs. In addition, the reasons advanced for their financial constraints are often speculative and anecdotal rather than the result of sound research. The hypothesis of credit rationing, resulting from information asymmetries, is well established in theory but an additional explanatory hypothesis, the fragile financial structure of SMMEs, is often voiced by the South African finance community. With South African data being scarce and patchy, none of these hypotheses has been validated by empirical studies. The most likely reason for these gaps in literature is not a lack of interest, but the considerable difficulty of raising reliable data from SMMEs, a joint result of confidentiality, widespread informality in the sector, and the limitations of publicly available statistics in developing countries. Surveys of banks or SMMEs raise risks of partiality and limited ability of respondents to provide quantitative data, while accounting data are characterised by limited usability and reliability. This thesis attempts to address those challenges by exploring primary and secondary sources of data, combining the respective strengths of interview and financial data.","abstract_html":"The existence and prevalence of financial constraints has been extensively discussed in the international economic literature, and is implicit in debates on the performance and needs of South Africa’s Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs). However, there is little solid research measuring financial constraints among South African SMMEs. In addition, the reasons advanced for their financial constraints are often speculative and anecdotal rather than the result of sound research. The hypothesis of credit rationing, resulting from information asymmetries, is well established in theory but an additional explanatory hypothesis, the fragile financial structure of SMMEs, is often voiced by the South African finance community. With South African data being scarce and patchy, none of these hypotheses has been validated by empirical studies. The most likely reason for these gaps in literature is not a lack of interest, but the considerable difficulty of raising reliable data from SMMEs, a joint result of confidentiality, widespread informality in the sector, and the limitations of publicly available statistics in developing countries. Surveys of banks or SMMEs raise risks of partiality and limited ability of respondents to provide quantitative data, while accounting data are characterised by limited usability and reliability. This thesis attempts to address those challenges by exploring primary and secondary sources of data, combining the respective strengths of interview and financial data.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Von Blottnitz, Magali"],"institution":"College of Accounting","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Uliana, Enrico"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2009,"date_issued":"2009","date_published":"2009","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:22:51Z","subjects":[],"languages":["eng"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/11427/5620","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Uliana, Enrico"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Von Blottnitz, Magali"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2014-07-31T12:12:59Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-07-31T12:12:59Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2009"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.department","label":"Dc Publisher Department","values":["College of Accounting"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.institution","label":"Dc Publisher Institution","values":["University of Cape Town"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Doctoral Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["Doctoral"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationname","label":"Dc Type Qualificationname","values":["PhD"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["eng"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/5620"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Includes abstract.","Includes bibliographical references (p. 212-228 )."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The existence and prevalence of financial constraints has been extensively discussed in the international economic literature, and is implicit in debates on the performance and needs of South Africa’s Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs). However, there is little solid research measuring financial constraints among South African SMMEs. In addition, the reasons advanced for their financial constraints are often speculative and anecdotal rather than the result of sound research. The hypothesis of credit rationing, resulting from information asymmetries, is well established in theory but an additional explanatory hypothesis, the fragile financial structure of SMMEs, is often voiced by the South African finance community. With South African data being scarce and patchy, none of these hypotheses has been validated by empirical studies. The most likely reason for these gaps in literature is not a lack of interest, but the considerable difficulty of raising reliable data from SMMEs, a joint result of confidentiality, widespread informality in the sector, and the limitations of publicly available statistics in developing countries. Surveys of banks or SMMEs raise risks of partiality and limited ability of respondents to provide quantitative data, while accounting data are characterised by limited usability and reliability. This thesis attempts to address those challenges by exploring primary and secondary sources of data, combining the respective strengths of interview and financial data."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Dysfunctional market or insufficient creditworthiness? : an exploration of financial constraint experienced by small, medium and micro enterprises in South Africa"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Uliana, Enrico"],"dc:creator":["Von Blottnitz, Magali"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2014-07-31T12:12:59Z"],"dc:date.available":["2014-07-31T12:12:59Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2009"],"dc:description":["Includes abstract.","Includes bibliographical references (p. 212-228 )."],"dc:description.abstract":["The existence and prevalence of financial constraints has been extensively discussed in the international economic literature, and is implicit in debates on the performance and needs of South Africa’s Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs). However, there is little solid research measuring financial constraints among South African SMMEs. In addition, the reasons advanced for their financial constraints are often speculative and anecdotal rather than the result of sound research. The hypothesis of credit rationing, resulting from information asymmetries, is well established in theory but an additional explanatory hypothesis, the fragile financial structure of SMMEs, is often voiced by the South African finance community. With South African data being scarce and patchy, none of these hypotheses has been validated by empirical studies. The most likely reason for these gaps in literature is not a lack of interest, but the considerable difficulty of raising reliable data from SMMEs, a joint result of confidentiality, widespread informality in the sector, and the limitations of publicly available statistics in developing countries. Surveys of banks or SMMEs raise risks of partiality and limited ability of respondents to provide quantitative data, while accounting data are characterised by limited usability and reliability. This thesis attempts to address those challenges by exploring primary and secondary sources of data, combining the respective strengths of interview and financial data."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/5620"],"dc:language.iso":["eng"],"dc:publisher.department":["College of Accounting"],"dc:publisher.institution":["University of Cape Town"],"dc:title":["Dysfunctional market or insufficient creditworthiness? : an exploration of financial constraint experienced by small, medium and micro enterprises in South Africa"],"dc:type":["Doctoral Thesis"],"dc:type.qualificationlevel":["Doctoral"],"dc:type.qualificationname":["PhD"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:22:51Z"}